Method and apparatus for forming cords



Nov. 24, 1959 H. A. SCHRENK METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING CORDS Filed April 14, 1954 INVENTOR Wkm ATTORNEY United States Patent c) METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING CORDS Hans Alwiu Schrenk, Arnhem, Netherlands, assignor to American Enka Corporation, Enka, N.C., a corporation of Delaware Application April 14, 1954, Serial No. 423,168 Claims priority, application Netherlands April 27, 1953 4 Claims. (Cl. 57- 583) cording devices. because the threads from two packages are simultaneously unwound and corded about the axis of a single spindle. In order to obtain a desired cord twist from one of these one spindle cording devices, it is necessary that the component yarns or threads have such an initial twist that the additive effect imparted. by the spindle will produce the desired" result. Accordingly, if one wishes to produce from a one spindle cording device a cord having a construction of lOZ/ S starting from two threads each having a twist of .22, it has heretofore been necessary first to bring thetwist of the two starting threads to zero by means of two separate '28 twisting operations and then to begin the cording on the one spindle device to produce a cord having 10 turns per inch in the S direction. Such a cord is referred to in' the tire industry as having a 102/108 construction, by which it is ordinarily meant that the cord is composed of two singles originally having a twist of 102 which have been twisted into a 108 cord. Stated differently, 102/108 cord construction, in the generally accepted definition of the term, means that the cord has ten S-turns per inch twist and'that the individual singles actually have zero turns per inch twist ag they appear in cord form. In reducing the cord twist tozero, however, ten turns in the Z direction will be added to each single. It is seen from this that although the singles possess no actual twist when lying in this particular cord construction, there is a theoretical or 1 potential singles twist of ten 'turns per inch in the direction opposite to that of thecord twist, or Z-direction, from which emanates the designation accepted in. the trade as 10Z/10S. However, as will be more apparent hereinafter, this same terminology may be used to designate cords produced in one "continuous operation without prior twisting of the singles separately. Since'pot spun rayon yarn is inherently possessed of twist of a few turns per inch, it is apparent that the preparation of rayon yarn for cording can and often does consume as much time as the cording itself.

It is an object of this invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art and to provide a method and apparatus to produce in a single, uninterrupted operation a cord of any desired twist construction from starting threads or singles of any twist.

According to the present invention, cord issuing from a one spindle cording device is fed directly and continuously to a twisting device such as a ring twister disposed in a cord twisting zone and the resulting cord is collected on the twisting spindle.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be r' 2,913,867 e Patented Nov. 24; 1959 2 apparent from the following detailed description of an embodiment thereof in conjunction with the annexed drawings, the single figure of which shows a typical arrangement in operating condition.

Referring now to the drawings in greater detaiL'the left side of the figure represents a one spindle cording device and the right side represents a cord twisting zone wherein the cord produced by the one spindle cording device may be further twisted by means of a ring twister. The one spindle cording device per se shown is more fully described in co-pending application Serial No. 364,174, filed June 25, 1953. Yarns or threads from the packages 1 and 2 are corded and the resulting cord is led through the traveller 25 of the reciprocating ring 26 to be laid up on the twister package 30. Note that the thread 3'coming from the package 1 is led through a guiding eye 11 and an adjustable tensioning device 12 to a guide13. From the guide 13 the thread 3 travels through a hollow spindle 14 which is mounted for rotation by conventional means and which is propelled by a driving pulley 15 driven by a belt 15a. Integral with the hollow spindle 14 is a disk 16 having therein a radial passageway 17 through which the thread 3 passes. The thread 3 freely balloons after leaving a disk 18 which is connected to the "disk 16. The ballon terminates at a point 5 where the thread 3 is corded with the thread 4 issuing fromfithe package 2. The resulting cord passes through a thread guide 7 and then through guiding rollers 21 and 22 to the cord twisting zonewherein a guiding eye 23 is disposed above the ring twister.

"The thread package 2 is mounted coaxially above the; package 1 on a stationary part 19. There is a transparent protecting hood 20 mounted on the stationary part 19 surrounding the package 2 and affording visual access thereto. A thread guide 8is disposed in the top of the hood 20 and axially above it are tension device .9 and thread guidingeye 10 which act upon the thread 4 in its movement toward the junction point 5. By any convenient arrangement the guiding eye 10 and/or the thread guide 7 are made vertically adjustable so that theposition of the junction point 5 in relation to the guides is predetermiuable. It has been found that the build of the combined thread product is less satisfactory when the junction point 5 migrates too close to either of the thread guides 7 or 10. To prevent this unsatisfactory condition, tension devices 9 and 12 and thread guides 7 and 10 are relatively adjusted so that the junction point 5 is properly located.

If the pretension on the thread 3 decreases, the balloon tends to lead the disk 16 and in so doing a higher twist and a larger angle of'twist result in the cord. This quickly decreases the height of the balloon to restore symmetry in accordance with the new pitch angle. By the same token, if the pretension of the balloon portion of the thread 3 increases, the balloon temporarily becomes higher with a sinaller'angle of pitch in the cord 6.

The cord 6 after leaving the guide 23 and passing under the traveller 25 is laidup in the form of a package on the twisting spindle 27. The twisting spindle is driven by a belt 29 through a pulley 28. Numeral 26a represents a fragment of the spindle twisting frame.

While the invention is illustrated with the cord being collected on a ring twister, a ring doubler, a cap twister or other twisting devices may be employed.

As an illustration of the method of the present invention, two examples are given as follows:

Example I It was desired to manufacture a cord of twist formula 122/ 128, from pot-spun singles, each having a twist of 22. Formerly, these individual singles would have been given a twist of 28 in order to neutralize the 22 production twist, after which the singles would have been corded, in a separate operation, on a one spindle cording device producing a cord twist of twelve S-turns per inch. Although the singles actually would have zero twist because of the additive effect of 22 and 28, the cord construction is referred to as 122/12S because of the singles twist which would inherently result upon unwinding or unplying of the cord. It is difficult to perform these separate operations continuously.

According to the method of the present invention the 22 pot spun yarn mentioned was initially corded on the one spindle cording device with a cord twist of S, continuously followed by an additional cord twist of 25 on a ring twister, thus producing a 122/12S cord construction in one single operation, as will next be explained.

When the 22 singles were plied on the single spindle cording device with a 108 twist, a cord having the construction of 122/108 was obtained, which means that the cord has a positive twist of ten turns per inch in the 8 direction, and the singles a potential or theoretical twist of twelve turns per inch in the 2 direction. In arriving at this figure, it should be remembered that the 10S twist added to the cord on a one spindle cording machine produces a potential twist of 102 in the singles (as explained hereinabove) which, when added to the 22 originally present. in the singles, results in the 12Z construction mentioned, although the actual twist in the singles is only 22. Subsequent collection of this cord on a ring twister imparting additional cord twist does not, however, affect t ist in the individual singles, as measured on a conventional twist tester. Consequently, adding a cord twist of 28 by the ring twister collector increases the 10S twist in the cord to 128 but has no effect on the 122 singles twist, which results in the 12Z/12S construction desired. By the use of the present invention, it can be seen that a cord construction of 122/128 was produced in one continuous operation from singles having a production twist of 2Z.

Example II In this example, it was desired to manufacture an unbalanced cord construction of l2Z/10S from untwistcd singles in one continuous operation. Cord was produced in accordance with the present invention by plying the untwistcd singles with 12$ twist on a one spindle cording machine. This produced a cord twist of 12S and a potential singles twist of 12Z, although the actual twist in the singles was zero. This cord was next collected on a ring twister imparting an additional cord twist of 22. The additional twist was in the direction opposite from the original cording twist and the cord twist was reduced from 128 to 108, although the singles twist was unaffected for reasons mentioned earlier. Al- 'though the theory behind this phenomena is not completely understood, actual tests on a conventional twist tester prove that collecting cord on a ring twister imparting further twist, in either direction, to the cord has no effect on the amount of actual twist present in the singles when the cord is unwound or unplied. Thus, starting with zero twist singles, a cord construction of 122/108 resulted from the continuous operation described.

In this way any cord construction, complying with consumers' demands, can be made continuously, starting from any twist condition of the elements from which the cord is to be made.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A method for cording threads that comprises drawing a first thread from a package, rotating a second thread 'around the first to form a cord, continuously withdrawing the cord to a cord twisting zone and turning the cord about its axis and laying up the same in package form in the cord twisting zone.

2. A method for cording threads that comprises drawing a first thread from a first package, guiding said first thread between two points in a substantially vertical path co-axially above said first package, guiding a second thread from a second package, ballooning succeeding portions of said second thread about said first package to form a cord, continuously withdrawing the cord to a cord twisting zone and further twisting the cord during the formation of a package in the cord twisting zone.

3. Apparatus for the continuous manufacture of a thread product comprising in combination, means to rotate a first thread element about a second thread elerrient at a point of joining to form a cord, means to continuously withdraw a cord from said point of joining to a cord twisting zone, and means in said cord twisting zone to turn said twisted cord about its axis to collect the same in package form.

4. Apparatus for the continuous formation of a cord comprising a first supply package mounted on a first stationary support, a second supply package mounted on a second stationary support, means to withdraw a first thread from said first supply package and to balloon it about said second supply package, means to guide a thread from said second supply package and combine the same with said first thread at a point of joining to form a cord, means to continuously withdraw said cord from said point of joining to a cord twisting zone, and twister means in said cord twisting zone to turn said cord about its axis and collect the same in package form.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Effect of Ply Twist'on Single Twist, Textile World, February 21, 1931, page 38. (Copy in Division 21.) 

